SW News: “We should no longer live our lives chasing dust, chasing things that are here today and gone tomorrow…let us return to the Fire that resurrects our ashes…,” said Pope Francis to the faithful on Ash Wednesday.

In his homily during the Holy Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, the Holy Father said how Lent is the time to be reconciled to God and return to Him. He said, “Lent is not just not about the little sacrifices we make, but about discerning where our hearts are directed. This is the core of Lent: asking where our hearts are directed.”

Pope Francis urged all Catholics to ask themselves where ‘life’s navigation system’ was taking them: “Do I live to please the Lord, or to be noticed, praised, put at the head of line…? Do I have a “wobbly” heart, which takes a step forward and then one backwards? Do I love the Lord a bit and the world a bit, or is my heart steadfast in God? Am I content with my hypocrisies, or do I work to free my heart from the duplicity and falsehood that tie it down?”

The Holy Father reminded that Lent is an “exodus, an exodus from slavery to freedom.” He recalled how difficult it was for the Israelites to leave the Egypt that they carried within their hearts. Just as they constantly faced temptations to turn back or cling to their ‘idols,’ the present-day man’s journey to God is also hindered. The “seductive snares of sin,” “false security of money and appearances,” and the “paralysis of discontents” are the blocks that people encounter in their daily lives.

The Holy Father suggested two means by which we can journey back to God. He said that confession- receiving God’s forgiveness – was the first step in man’s journey to the heart of God. Secondly, man needs to return to the Triune God.  The Pope invited everyone to present their wounds, vices and fears to Jesus like the leper in the Gospels.

The Holy Spirit is the “Fire that resurrects our ashes” and teaches us to love. “Let us pray once more to the Holy Spirit and rediscover the fire of praise, which consumes the ashes of lamentation and resignation,” urged the Holy Father. He concluded his homily encouraging his listeners to recognize their need for God’s mercy and grace.